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A review by bwluvs2read
Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff
3.0
Lily plays the piano, swims like a fish, and tells lies. Well, really she writes them. But one summer she becomes friends with someone who tells just as many lies as she does, and together they both must face the truth. Each summer, she travels to Rockaway to stay with her grandmother on the Atlantic coast, but after this summer, Lily will never be the same. The year is 1944 and WWII has reached its long fingers into her life, taking away her beloved father, Poppy, her best friend, Margaret, and the assurance she once had in the simple things in life. However, the summer is not all loss. The appearance of a small, sad, and mysterious boy leads to unexpected happiness. Albert, a war refugee from Hungary, opens Lily’s eyes to his own experience with the war, the loss of his parents, and separation from his beloved little sister, Ruth. Through many adventures - rescuing a cat, learning to swim, sneaking into the movie theater, possibly crossing the Atlantic to return to Europe, see Poppy, and rescue Ruth - Lily and Albert stay side by side. The story resolves with not one reunion but two as Lily finds joy in both her family and her friendships at last.
The American home-front comes alive in Giff’s novel, portraying the anxiety, sadness, and fear that persisted in American communities throughout the latter years of the war. References to lost soldiers, divided families, tight rations, and ravaged home countries fill the book while snippets from radio shows, films, and propaganda bring harsh elements of realism to novel’s plot. While Lily’s internal conflict and the main conflict of the novel do not directly relate to the war, all events of the novel revolve around the D-day invasion. Once, Lily cracks the code in her father’s letters and realizes he is in France just after the soldiers landed in Normandy, she takes a greater interest in the war. These historical events also have personal significance to the author; Lily’s story is inspired by the summer Giff spent in Rockaway in 1944 where she clearly remembers “the fears of that time, and how personal it all was.” The tension and suspicion which Giff references is palpable, and Lily herself is subject to it - when Albert first arrives, she automatically assumes he could be a spy. Overall, Giff’s portrayal of the war, characters, and setting of the novel are all fabulously authentic.
Some might find the title of this novel misleading because Lily doesn’t cross anything, but in her separation from her father and her growing friendship with Albert, the far away countries and the tragedies occurring there are suddenly much closer. In many ways, she has “crossed over” to a new understanding of life and appreciation of the people she loves. War is traumatic, and Giff reminds us that those most often traumatized during difficult times are children. Not every war story has a happy ending, but thankfully, despite being somewhat contrived, this one does. Readers will delight and sympathize with Lily while experiencing a turning point in American history from a unique point of view.
The American home-front comes alive in Giff’s novel, portraying the anxiety, sadness, and fear that persisted in American communities throughout the latter years of the war. References to lost soldiers, divided families, tight rations, and ravaged home countries fill the book while snippets from radio shows, films, and propaganda bring harsh elements of realism to novel’s plot. While Lily’s internal conflict and the main conflict of the novel do not directly relate to the war, all events of the novel revolve around the D-day invasion. Once, Lily cracks the code in her father’s letters and realizes he is in France just after the soldiers landed in Normandy, she takes a greater interest in the war. These historical events also have personal significance to the author; Lily’s story is inspired by the summer Giff spent in Rockaway in 1944 where she clearly remembers “the fears of that time, and how personal it all was.” The tension and suspicion which Giff references is palpable, and Lily herself is subject to it - when Albert first arrives, she automatically assumes he could be a spy. Overall, Giff’s portrayal of the war, characters, and setting of the novel are all fabulously authentic.
Some might find the title of this novel misleading because Lily doesn’t cross anything, but in her separation from her father and her growing friendship with Albert, the far away countries and the tragedies occurring there are suddenly much closer. In many ways, she has “crossed over” to a new understanding of life and appreciation of the people she loves. War is traumatic, and Giff reminds us that those most often traumatized during difficult times are children. Not every war story has a happy ending, but thankfully, despite being somewhat contrived, this one does. Readers will delight and sympathize with Lily while experiencing a turning point in American history from a unique point of view.